St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-23

to be drinking out of fountain wher,
ten thousand sheep have been drinking
before you You will have to remove thu
obstacle of pride, or never find your way
to the we'll You will have to come a:
we came, willing to take the water o.
eternal life in any way, and at any hand
and in any kind of pitcher, crying out
ooh, Lord, Jesus, / am dying of thirst
Give me the water of eternal life, whether
in trough or goblet; give me the water
of life; | care not in what it comes tc
me-" Away with all your hindrances OF
pride from the wells mouth.
Here is another man who is kept back
from this water of life by the stone OF
an obdurate heart, which lies over the
mouth of the well. You have no more
feeling upon this subject than if God
had yet to do you the first kindness, OF
you had to do God the first wrong
Seated on His lap all these years, His
everlasting arms sheltering you, where
is your gratitude? Where is your morn
ing and evening prayer? Where are
your consecrated lives? I say to you,
as Daniel said to Belshazzar: THE God
in whose hand thy breath is, and all thy
way, thou hast not glorified." If you
treated anybody as badly as you have
treated God, you would have made five
hundred apologies-yea, your whole life
would have been an apology. Three
times day you have been seated at
Gods table. Spring, summer, autumn
and winter he has appropriately ap-
pareled you. Your health from Him,
your companion from Him, your chill
dren from Him, your home from Him,
all the bright surroundings of your life
from Him. o man, what dost thou with
that hard heart? Canst thou not feel
one throb of gratitude toward the God
that made you, and the Christ who came
to redeem you, and the Holy Ghost who
has all these years been importuning
you? If you could sit down five min
utes under the tree of Saviours
martyrdom, and feel His warm life trick
ling on your forehead, and cheek, and
hands, methinks you would get some
appreciation of what you owe to cruel
fed Jesus
Heart of stone relent, relent,
Touched by Jesus cross subdued;
See His body, mangled, rent,
Covered with gore of blood.
Sinful soul, what hast thou done?
Crucifed the eternal Son.
Jacob with good deal of tug and
push took the stone from the wells
mouth, so that the fiocks might be wa
tered. And l would that this morning
my word, blessed of God, might remove
the hindrances to your getting up to the
gospel well. Yea, take it for granted
that the work is done, and now like
Oriental shepherds, proceed to water
bhe sheep. Come all We thirsty! You
have an underlined longing in your soul.
You tried money making; that did not
satisfy you. You tried office under gov
eminent; that did not satisfy you. You
tried pictures and sculptures; but works
of art did not satisfy you. You are as
much disconnected with this life as the
celebrated French author who felt that
he could not any longer endure the mis-
fortunes of the world and who said:
"At four o'clock this afternoon | shall
put an end to my own existence. Mean
while, must toll on up to that time for
the sustenance of my family" And he
wrote on his book until the clock struck
four, when he folded up his manuscript,
and, by his own hand, concluded his
earthly life. There are men in this house
who are perfectly disconnected. I'm
happy in the past, unhappy to-day; to
be unhappy forever, unless you come to
this gospel we'll. This satisfies the soul
with high, deep, all-absorbing and eter-
nal satisfaction. 1t comes, and it offers
the most unfortunate man so much of
this world as is best for him, and throws
all Heaven into the bargain. The wealth
of Cresus, and of all the Stewards, and of |
all the Earrings, and all the Rothschrds is
only poor, miserable shilling compared |
ha slo%
offers you to-day. In. the far East there
was king who used once year to get
on scales, while on the other side the
scales were placed gold, and silver, and
gems; indeed, enough were placed there
% balance the king; then, at the close
If the weighing, all those treasures were
brown among the popqlace. But Christ
o-day steps on one side the scales, and
he universe, and He says: "All are
height, all depth, all length,
ii breadth, all eternity all are yours"
We don't appreciate the promises of the
Gospel. When an aged clergyman was
hurch-a young theological student
TODD by his side, and the aged man
ooked up and said to him: Cant you
i've me some comfort in my dying
our? % "No," said the young man; Il
ant talk to you on this subject; you
now all about it, and have known it so
'ng." well" said the dying man,
just recite to me some promises" The
Dung man thought moment, and he
anne to this promise: "The blood of
esus Christ cleanseth from all sin; and
lie old man clapped his hands, and in
is dying momeUt said: That's just the ,
romise I have been waiting for. :The I
God of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all {
n" Oh, the warmth, the grandeur, ]
he magnificence of the promises! ]
Come, also, to this Gospel WELL all. we t
Dubbed. l do not suppose you have e
capped. Compare your view of this 8
lie at fifteen years of age with what
our view is of it at forty, or sixty, or v
venty. What great contrast of a
Union! Were you right then, or are il
~ right now? Two cups placed in
'ur hands, the one a sweet cup, the g
her sour cup. A cup of joy and a n
p of grief. Which has been the near t.
t to being full, and out of which have 1
~ the more frequently partaken? f,
hat different place Greenwood is "
ON what it used to be! Once it was t,
you grand city improvement, and ii
u ran laughingly up the mound and D
~ prificico6 II, n 1;rb+